MHA: All For You
by WrithingOedon
Summary: The world is changing. As Izuku Midoryia finishes his studies and begins to start his new life as a hero, the world watches in anticipation. New forces make waves across Japan. The enigmatic entrepreneur of a giant tech company is ready to give Midoryia all he needs to become Number One, while four mysterious strangers are set to sow chaos across the land. A storm is coming.
1. Chapter 1

All Might hated Tartarus prison. He didn't hate the concept; a place where the absolute worst and most dangerous quirk users in society are held for the safety of everyone else. That idea was a solid one. What he hated was visiting it. There are many criminals locked away in Tartarus, but All Might was only ever called in to interrogate one. He would not speak to anyone else. And there he sat, locked in binds and chains, staring through the reinforced glass, smiling that despicable smile. A smile which always seemed to say 'I know something you don't know.'

All for One.

The age old enemy of All Might, his predecessor, and all those before, smiled on in gleeful malevolence. Despite the scar tissue, the bindings and the respiratory aides, he still looked healthier than All Might, who was a far cry from the tall, muscled symbol of peace that he once was. All Might's harrowed, gaunt, features were reminiscent of a skeleton with a very thin layer of skin strapped over it.

He just wanted this to be over. He wanted to leave All for One there to rot till the end of his days.

"I'm going to ask you again," All Might said unemotionally. He knew that any minor twitch, any display of emotion would give All for One some idea of what he was thinking or feeling, and that would be disastrous. All for One was the type of man who would set himself on fire if it would even perturb All Might. "Where is Shigaraki? Where is the League of Villains?"

"Oh All Might. You came all this way just to ask the same questions as before and expect I'll give you a different answer? Do you know what Einstein's definition of insanity is?" His voice was an amused and spiteful one. All Might grew more and more agitated at every mocking word which oozed like venom from his mouth. Even though he was behind bars, it still seemed as though he held so much influence. It all felt like a high stakes game of poker, and All for One was the guy who liked to hide a royal flush up his sleeve. "You're old and weak now, All Might. I'm beginning to think you're showing signs of dementia. You should get that check out, along with that gaping wound in your stomach."

"It's been a long time since they last showed themselves. We'll find them sooner or later," All Might proclaimed, faking what confidence he could. "The League is tiny and fractured, they lost you and Kurogiri. Their movement is limited."

"A necessary sacrifice. One can't win a game of chess without losing a pawn or two."

"You consider yourself a pawn?"

"In the grand scheme of things? I suppose so. You're so obsessed with becoming this metaphorical shining beacon of light that it has blinded you and you can't see the consequence of your actions. More and more people are developing quirks, and they're only getting stronger. Who do you think was there to regulate the emergence of them? I have taken so many that I've forgotten most of them," he said with a ominous chuckle. "And then there are the quirks I would never use. Even now."

All Might always knew All for One had a lot of quirks, the very power over eighty percent of the people on Earth now hold, but it never really occurred to him just how many quirks one could obtain from over one thousand years of living on this planet. It was a thought All Might didn't want to think.

_He must be bluffing_, All Might thought to himself.

"What if there's a quirk that can emit massive quantities of Ionizing Radiation? What if there's a quirk that spreads Smallpox?"

_I really hope he is bluffing_, All Might thought to himself.

"Quirks will become too strong for even you at your prime to handle. And we haven't even begun to talk of those outside of Japan. Will your protege be able to carry on the legacy of One for All when the world is burned to ash? What good would heroes be then?"

Just like the times before, All Might knew he would get nothing useful from this interaction.

"This conversation is over," All Might said dismissively, as he left his seat and headed towards the door.

"This game of ours is changing. Now that I'm gone, many new players will want to take my place. The world has set their eyes on your little Hero in training. A storm is coming, All Might. Will Midoriya weather it, or will it cast him aside?" All for One called as All Might left the room, his eyeless face smiling that unnerving smile.

* * *

Even though he was out of Tartarus and away from that man, All Might couldn't help but feel uneasy. He certainly felt better now that he was out of there, but the event lingered on in his mind like an ill omen. He sat in the passenger seat of Tsukauchi's car, idly flicking away at the lock screen of his phone, trying to distract himself from the foreboding sense that sat like a lead brick in the pit of his stomach.

_A storm is coming._

The bridge to Tartarus was clear of most traffic, as was the sky of most clouds; the few were there spilled over the horizon. Tsukauchi could see the concern etched on All Might's face and understood it well. Most people end up in a worse state just being near the guy, let alone having a one on one conversation with him. He thought it best to try and distract him with another important topic.

"So, I hear that it's Midoriya's graduation soon." This seemed to work as All Might snapped out of his distant thought and that old, familiar smile finally crept along his dour face.

"Yeah, that's right. A fully fledged Hero soon. He's been doing a lot of growing up, lately." All Might's mind cast itself back to when he first met Izuku Midoriya; when he was just that child with very little power, but a whole lot of heart. He looked back at the young boy's time at U.A and slipped into a nostalgic day dream.

"Any idea what agency he'll go with?"

"I assumed he'd get more training with Gran Torino. He still hasn't mastered his quirk yet, so my old tutor would be a big help to him."

"Well, do you know about that skyscraper they've built in Tokyo?"

"The one that looks like it's out of some sci-fi movie? Yeah I know it."

"I heard it becoming the HQ for some big, tech company that's moving over here. Apparently the guy who runs it used to work for David Shield."

"Really? Who?"

"Name's Ethan Wright or something."

All Might's mind shot back to his time in the U.S. He was sure he remembered a kind of apprentice who worked with David. A timid, quirkless kid with a talent for making all kinds of gizmos and gadgets.

_Is that him? Is he part of David__'s company?_

"If he's a friend of Davids," All Might announced, as the late sun attempted to radiate a face that was already beaming with excitement, "then he's a friend of mine. I'll will have to give him a big, warm welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

The morning for class 1-A was abuzz with the usual student activity: events were stated, gossip was shared and one or two students were asleep at their desks. To Izuku Midoriya, it all felt uncomfortably familiar; they were in their final weeks at U.A High School and everyone was just going about their business as though it was the previous week, month, or even year. It all felt wrong to him, as though he should be doing more, or at least, something else; he had no idea what, it just had to be something.

The cheerful atmosphere quickly changed to one of panic and anticipation as a noise that sounded eerily similar to thunder rolled in from down the hallway. Each cataclysmic step stormed louder and louder, until it stopped right outside the classroom door. A tense few seconds trickled past when, suddenly, a mighty force pushed the sliding door aside; the dramatic crash reverberating throughout the classroom.

"OUT OF MY WAY, EXTRAS," the thunder shouted, despite no one actually being in his way. Then everyone realized it was Katsuki Bakugo and the atmosphere went back to normal.

"Bakugo that is school property you have potentially damaged, and as the class representative, I will not tolerate this," the tall, bespectacled representative of the class yelled.

"BITE ME, FOUR-EYES," Bakugo yelled back.

Tenya Iida and Katsuki Bakugo are what we would call natural enemies; Iida is a man who prefers order and discipline, while Bakugo likes not being told what to do. Other natural enemies of Bakugo include: people with strong quirks, people with weak quirks, people with no quirks, people who are as strong as him, people who are weaker than him, people in general, and Midoriya, especially Midoriya. In fact, Midoriya holds a special place in Bakugo's -It would be disingenuous to call it a 'heart', for Bakugo only has a special places for people he utterly despises; it would be better to call it a-anti-heart. This was because of a few factors; firstly, Midoriya was quirkless, then he wasn't, he even showed him up a few times during training and exercises, then Bakugo beat him, then it turns out he has All Might's quirk, then he showed him up again at the provisional license exam. That was the worst part of it all. So far, he was weaker, but he didn't have the decency to be consistent about it.

The mundane nature of the situation hit Midoriya hard enough that he slipped back into his usual mode of thinking and ended up forgetting about the graduation.

Following Bakugo, Eijiro Kirishima casually strolled in, giving a passing apology for Bakugo and the door.

Just as Iida and Bakugo's argument was about to run its natural course, the homeroom teacher Mr Aizawa [ERASER HEAD] stepped in and told the two to take their seats. Tenya Iida responded "Yes, sir!" and promptly returned to his desk, while Bakugo gave a "tch" in disappointment and slouched into his chair.

"Okay class, settle down. Today we have a special announcement," Mr Aizawa announced to the class through his usual indifferent manner.

Midoriya's mind instantly went into overdrive, which usually happens whenever he is presented with a mystery, be it big or small._ The major exams were over, but the graduation was still a few days away. All that was happening now was administration work before joining an agency and graduation preparations. In fact, the workload had shrunk so much that most students had early finishes. So what could possibly left? What could they be announcing so close to the end of school?_

"Oh look, Izuku's doing that thing again," which instantly snapped him out of his deep rumination.

Ochaco Uraraka did like to lightly tease Midoriya with that, and he was okay with her doing so; his cogitation had gotten them out of some deep trouble before, so Midoriya was secure enough that a friendly jab wouldn't affect him.

"I am suddenly here," All Might proclaimed as he entered the room. No matter how many times the students saw him, no matter how many lessons he taught, no one could ever truly get comfortable with his now emaciated form. The ideal of All Might was one of strength, heroism, and hope, so seeing him without those was difficult to get used to.

Despite all of that, Izuku Midoriya always lit up in admiration and reverence every time All Might entered the room.

"It's a little impromptu, but we have a field trip to a new hero agency. It's opening up in Tokyo. So if any of you still don't know which agency you want to go with, this is a great opportunity," and All Might placed a stack of permission forms on the front desk.

Midoriya was originally thinking of going with Gran Torino's agency; working with All Might's mentor was the next logical step he could have taken, but something always bothered him about that. He was coming into his own as a hero. He developed his own style, fought villains on his own initiative, but he always felt like he was trapped in his shadow. Maybe it was time for him to break free and truly become his own hero, otherwise he would be stuck forever following All Might like a little, lost puppy. As much as he didn't want to admit it, All Might was not going to be around forever. Those words he said after the Kamino incident still rang loud in Midoriya's mind.

"_Now, it__'s your turn._"

Midoriya was one of the first to take an application form.


	3. Chapter 3

Midoriya was surprised by the turnout. He thought that most of the students had already had an agency to go with. He supposed that checking out other options was never a bad thing at least. Katsuki Bakugo being there made sense; Midoriya found it hard to believe he would be satisfied with any one agency, and Eijiro Kirishima followed him. It was pretty hard to separate the two. Ochaco Uraraka joined too; an agency based around surveillance and support made sense for her quirk type, which is also why Momo Yaoyorozu was there. Mina Ashido probably joined them believing it would be a fun trip. Midoriya didn't really understand why Shoto Todoroki was there; he always thought that he would join his dad's agency. Perhaps there's still some unresolved issues lurking about between them.

Seven students sat in the bus chatting amongst themselves. Mr Aizawa sat at the front, though he probably would have preferred being at the back in a nice corner where he could fall asleep.

Midoriya actually found himself feeling kind of nervous. The impression he gets from this place could decide his entire future as a hero. It's not a choice he could take lightly, but if he kept an critical yet open mind, he should be fine. It was also good that he was surrounded by his classmates. An unfamiliar situation with familiar people can help someone feel at ease.

The bus rolled on to the edge of the centre Tokyo city, and there the students saw it. Jutting out from the heart of Tokyo like a twisting beam of light, the building towered over them. The elegant tower of glass and white steel was comprised of two actual buildings which spiraled around each other and joined back together at the top.

The sheer size of the building gave the impression that it raised out of the ground as the bus came closer and closer to the heart of Tokyo, and as the students departed the bus, looking to the top of it filled Midoriya's head with a vertigo like dizziness.

The courtyard itself was nothing too special. There was a nice balance of grass and concrete, with some trees planted to tastefully break up the flat landscape. At it's centre, in stone carving, sat the name of the company:

IYRIN Corp.

It was a word the students were unfamiliar with. Was it an acronym, western in origin, or possibly entirely made up?

The students entered through the building's revolving doors, and found their breath taken away by the mere lobby. Holographic displays lined the upper walls showing off new products to potential prospective buyers, the marble floor shined so well they may as well have been standing on a mirror, and at the center, standing above a fountain was the symbol of the company, crafted in brass. A simplified eye in between two overlapping circles.

The employees themselves were dressed in varying degrees of business to business casual. Some wore full, tailored suits, while others were happy in shirts with the collar unbuttoned. Midoriya even thought he saw someone in jeans.

Todoroki looked around with his usual stern expression on his face. It always made him looked so dismissive about everything, even when Midoryia knew that wasn't the case. Perhaps the corporate atmosphere made him think of his fathers agency, and the discomfort that comes with it. He was a pretty difficult guy to read, even in more comfortable scenarios. Who could really knew what he was thinking here?

While everyone turned their curious eye to the activity of the lobby, Midoriya noticed the descent of a large, circular, glass elevator. Within, he could make out the back of a rough looking man wearing a wrinkled, un-tucked shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows; his hair was messy and unmanaged, as though he just got out of bed. He looked much worse being next to the woman at his side, who was wearing a fashionable, pressed suit with a skirt that stopped just before the knee, her dark hair tied up in a perfect bun. She was typing away busily on a tablet.

Midoriya wasn't sure why he noticed this man. Perhaps it was because he stuck out so obviously in such a corporate environment. He looked like the kind of man who would be in a failing detective agency, or an overworked call center.

"Wow. Izuku, could you even imagine working in a place like this?" Midoriya turned to see Ochako excitedly grabbing him by the arm. He fully understood the position his bubbly friend was coming from. Most hero agencies are pretty small scale unless you are the Number One hero like Endeavor. They don't really need to be anything bigger if their sole purpose is just for hero work. This wasn't the case for IYRIN Corp, as it was mainly a surveillance and technology company. The hero branch must be a new avenue for them. The resources at their disposal would be invaluable to a hero, both in finance and information. And in Ochako's case, she never from a wealthy household. The wage she could earn from a place like this would be more than she would ever need.

"Hopefully you won't have to," said a voice from behind him.

Midoriya turned to find the bedraggled man standing behind him, arms opened in a presenting fashion. At this distance, Midoriya noticed the man looked unshaven and tired, but seemed welcoming. In contrast with his tired and unkempt face, his smile was warm and radiant.

"I'm very sorry if this seemed rude," Midoriya said, "but who are you?"

"Ah, forgive me, I got excited and completely forgot to introduce myself," the man jovially said lightly tapping his head with the palm of his hand. "My name is Ethan Wright."


	4. Chapter 4

All for One's words rang true, as indeed a storm was coming. It was coming via business class and was enjoying a complimentary glass of champagne while watching the clouds pass by. The leg room was ample and allowed him to stretch his legs out and move them into a more comfortable position. Overall, he was in a pretty good mood today. He enjoyed moments like this. The constant progress carried out by another on their behalf while no effort was required by oneself; thats why he enjoyed traveling. Those precious moments where time was allowed to be wasted; where one could allow the mind to wander and think of the more abstract questions of life such as: why can't golden retrievers retrieve any gold, why can you drink a drink, but you can't food a food? Strange questions, certainly, but question allowed to be thought in the recesses of a bored mind.

The captain announced their descent into Tokyo, so he put away his idle thoughts, and went over his plan instead.

The aircraft landed on the tarmac of Haneda Airport and the storm departed along with three other specific individuals, all hidden in the crowd of faces.

The first wore a long gray military coat; his hair , a deep brown, swept backwards and fell just before the base of his neck. His eye, etched by scars, hid behind an eye-patch. The back of his coat was embossed with the image of a crown.

The second wore a short, red coat which barely fell to her waist. Her hair was a deep hue of red and spread out like a wildfire. The back of her coat was embossed with the image of a sword.

The third took a liking to stylish, tailored suits; mostly dark with the fairest hint of green. His dark beard was trimmed and styled and was pointed at the chin. The back of his coat was embossed with the image of a set of scales.

The fourth was shrouded in a thick, black raincoat; the hood hid the man's grim, pale face. The back of his coat was embossed with the image of a scythe.

A great benefit of a society in which the quirky are many is that the strange don't stand out.

Ignoring luggage reclamation, they headed straight for the exit. Procurement on site was a specialty of the group.

Like ghosts, they walked through the congested city of Tokyo till they made their way to a secluded alley where they finally met their contact.

The scum of the earth. The unwanted. That which people want to forget. A desolate alleyway was a fitting place for people like this to meet.

And they did meet. From around a corner stepped a man with dark, messy hair, pale blue eyes, metal piercings, and broken, burnt skin under his eyes, on his jaw, and down his neck. He looked the four up and down for a moment then said, "When the storm has come."

The first responded, "The Harbingers shall ride."

"And the world will burn," the contact replied. "I was expecting something a little more. Is scum like you even fit to be kindling for my fire?" He raised his hand and a blue flame emerged.

"I think you'll find us pretty hard to burn," the one with the eye-patch said. "Raz, you're up!" He gestured to the man in the large, black raincoat.

The one he called Raz walked forward towards the contact, removing his raincoat, revealing baroque styled shirt and trousers, and handed it to the man with the eye-patch, who then folded it over and tucked it underneath his arm. Raz was a slender man with porcelain white skin, silvery hair, and smoky, dark circles around his eyes. He had the impression of a phantom given form.

The contact was named Dabi, and he wasn't a man to hesitate when it came to fire, so without much provocation, he fired out a pillar of blue flame towards Raz, the heat quickly burning his skin and narrowly avoiding the other three members.

Dabi was pleased with how his powers have grown in the past few years, until he noticed Raz continued walking towards him through the flames. _He should be nothing but ash by now_, Dabi thought. He could even see the man's skin charring and falling off, but he continued walking. He walked till he was face to face with Dabi, and gently closed his open hand, dispelling the flames.

Dabi could now see the man's flesh up close as it reformed as fast as it burned away.

"It is an excellent fire," he said, his voice no more than a whisper; his face without emotion, "but I have been burned by flames far greater than this."

The one with the eye-patch strolled up to them and handed Raz his coat back. "So, did we pass your little test?"

"I suppose I should trust Shigaraki's intuition a little more. Who are you anyway?"

"He didn't tell you much did he?" He said letting out a small chuckle. "Very well. You can call me Soulstorm. And we are The Harbingers."


	5. Chapter 5

At least Midoriya understood why the man looked so disheveled. He looked that way because he was allowed to. Who would actually have the power to tell the CEO himself to dress properly? But then came questions about how such a man could run a business as big as this if they can't even dress right, or if his colleagues would be happy with his decorum.

In any case, he gave Midoriya a good, firm, handshake with one hand and with the other he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. His smile and the polite contact reminded Midoriya of how All Might used to be, before the Kamino incident.

"Nice to meet you, I'm-"

"Izuku Midoriya. You know, I haven't been here that long, yet I've already heard a lot about you."

His words came as a surprise. What did he know? Midoriya figured he and All Might spoke, which is why this field trip happened in the first place. How much did All Might tell him? Then he remembered the live filming of the sports festival, and the events that happened afterward, which set his mind a little at ease.

"And you must be Ochaco Uraraka," he said as he leaned down to her eye level. "I saw your fight against Katsuki Bakugo. Not the best match-up I'll admit, but you got a lot of heart and gave it you all. I don't think you could really ask more from a hero."

Mr Wright gave the girl a knowing wink and moved on. She wasn't fully sure what he meant by that, but non the less she was ecstatic at the recognition.

He turned to the girl with the pink skin and black sclera, who was almost vibrating in anticipation.

"You're Mina Ashido right? With the acid quirk? Very nice! Looking forward to seeing what you'll accomplish with a versatile quirk like that."

Mina Ashido didn't do too badly at the sports festival; she got to the second round of the tournament, which was no easy feat. But she was in a room with Bakugo, Midoryia, and Todoroki. She may as well have been standing amongst giants, so any interest or praise was very welcome.

"Thanks!" She almost yelled the word. "Oh, by the way, why do you look so ragged?"

"Hm?" He looked down at himself, only now noticing how scruffy he looked. "Ah crap. Well, ya know. A new business. A few sleepless nights. Usual stuff."

_Oh so that__'s it,_ Midoryia thought to himself.

"Now this is a surprise," Mr Wright said, walking towards a silent Todoroki. "I was almost certain another agency would have picked you up quickly."

Todoroki stood there, arms folded, and gave a small, ambiguous shrug.

"Well, if you ever change your mind…"

He walk away from Todoroki and stopped before Bakugo. The two silently exchange a glance before Bakugo broke it, opting instead to look out the window.

Kirishima wasn't sure what to do, so he decided to introduce himself and offer a handshake.

"Hey. I'm Kirishima, but you probably knew that already."

"Yeah I remember you. Saw your battle against the steel dude. Didn't think that one through did they? I've never seen someone basically fight themselves before!"

Mr Wright turned his head to look at Bakugo, who was currently doing his best to stare out of a window. He looked back a couple of times to check if anyone was still looking, but did his best to maintain the air of indifference.

"I take it that's Katsuki Bakugo?"

"Yeah. How did you guess?" Kirishima said, earnestly.

"It's rare to meet a well balanced person like that."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It's probably because he has a chip on _both_ his shoulders."

Finally, he met with the last student in the group.

"Ah of course, Momo Yaoyorozu. I've heard of you and your interesting quirk."

In all manners, Yaoyorozu strives to be as thoughtful and professional as she could in her hero studies. This was a trait she was hoping to carry into her professional career.

"Thank you very much," she said with the professional air befitting her. "If you don't mind me asking, how is it you know so much about us? Personally, my performance in the sports festival wasn't great. I never got a chance to show off my quirk properly."

"Good observation. Speaking with All Might gave me a good rundown of what you're all capable of, as for you Yaoyorozu, I saw the advert you were in."

She really did strive to be as professional as she possibly could be. This was even evident when she was hit by a flushed, wave of embarrassment after being reminded of the hair spray advertisement.

"Oh, yes, Uwabami's advert. I'm sorry, that was for the internship. There was just something so corporate about it. It felt unclean."

The appropriateness off the comment for where she was and who she was talking to may have been lost on her, but it wasn't for Ethan who let out a sudden, brief laugh.

"There's no need to apologize or feel unclean. Corporatism and heroes have been hand in hand for a long time now."

_Have they? _Yaoyorozu thought. _There__'s certain a commercial aspect to heroes, but have they really been "hand in hand?"_

Naturally, she followed up with, "could you please elaborate?"

"Well, have you ever wondered why heroes wear costumes?" He opened the question up to the group of students.

"It was to hide their identities!" Ashido excitedly added.

"Ah, very true. To protect their identities from criminals and the government before the government endorsed them. But why do they _still_ wear costumes?"

Now the group was stumped. It was a question they never really thought about. Costumes were just part of being a hero. Without the image, you're just a person with superpowers.

"If they didn't, then they wouldn't be heroes?" Kirisihima said, not sure if he was asking or answering a question.

"Now we're getting to the crux of it!" Ethan seemed gleeful in the way he was dancing around the topic, like a performer at the royal ballet. "And do you want to know _why _a costume sets a hero apart from a person?"

The students leaned in, anticipating a response.

"Because you are a brand! A product! Heroes dress themselves in colourful and thematically appropriate outfits to sell something. An idea. You can't fight crime by just punching people until it goes away. Crime and villainy is an idea, and ideas are immortal. The only way to beat an idea is with a better one. So you sell this idea of hope and justice to the world, and show the villains that their idea doesn't belong here. All Might did it. He sold the idea of a great symbol of peace, and people came in droves to buy his idea. Maybe it seems cynical, but you shouldn't feel bad that you're advertising yourself, it's a natural part of being a hero. You all represent these ideas and it's the job of a hero to sell them. At least thats the way I see it. On with the tour then?"

The students stood in a dazed silence as their brains processed what Mr Wright just said. Midoriya alone usually required at least a week of rumination on the subject; and the tonal whiplash at the end did not help. Mr Wright snapped from one topic to another as though what he said wasn't in any way inordinary, but still he walked to the cylindrical elevator and beckoned the students to follow. Midoryia looked at the rest of the students who started wandering over and met eyes with Kaminari who gave a shrug and wandered over with the rest of them. Midoryia decided it was best to follow.

Together, they stepped onto the glass elevator that Ethan Wright came down on. He placed his hand onto a panel on the glass, which looked like it biometrically scanned his hand, and the elevator moved up into the building proper. Aizawa watched their ascent from the lobby. It was unknown what he during the tour, most likely, he went to sleep on the bus.

What they first saw seemed pretty ordinary for a company like this, a good chunk of the floors were dedicated to general administration work. It's only further up that things started becoming interesting.

First, the showed off some of the R&D sections. This building was a hub for all of IYRIN Corp's Japanese activity, so all projects need to come to this building for finalization. Meaning that heroes here had a lot of toys to play with. One such device was a prototype for a pair of handcuffs that was able to surpress quirk activation. Midoryia actually heard about this before; he remembered a debate on television about the ethics of using such a device, whether it's right or not to be able to take away a person's quirk. A larger model was used to capture a villain with an immense telekinetic quirk that once boasted he could pull the moon down. They were still in the prototype stage, so the effects only lasted around ten minutes or so. Mr Wright took the handcuffs with him, without demonstrating it's capabilities to the students.

Midoryia was especially fond of the long range testing apparatus, which consisted of a long, re-enforced glass tube where they tested support gear to be used at long range. One such Pro Hero was already there testing out something. It looked like he had the power to emit concussive shockwaves from his body, so they made a set of gauntlets that would take the waves produced from his body and concentrate them into the emitters in the knuckles of his gauntlets. Midoryia was pretty sure the guy's name was King K.O, and he wore a yellow jumpsuit that covered his whole body with what looked like a diamond style pattern adorning it.

And this was only to test smaller stuff. The bigger equipment was relegated to industrial sites outside of any city, in case of collateral damage, of course. You wouldn't want to be walking around on the street when suddenly you hit in the face by some stray malfunctioning jetpack.

Further up the building and they were in the sector dedicated to professional hero work. It contained a large communal area with sofas, a large TV, computers, bookshelves, even a pool table. Off to the side there were offices and conference room for heroes to use for any administration work. But, right now, the entire place was empty. It lay dormant, waiting to be filled with new and prospective heroes.

The next floor was dedicated to a large gym facility and training area, packed with training equipment, some classic, others new and unseen. There was even an impressive array of robotic sparring partners to practice on. The final room he showed was the dojo. A spacious room specifically dedicated for sparring matches. At the end of the dojo was a doorway that led to a sower room and sauna which Ashido quickly pointed out and became excited over. From the door appeared a man wearing a maintenance jumpsuit and carrying a soaked towel, who was surprised by the sudden appearance of his boss.

"Mr Wright!" The man said in surprise. "I just got done fixing the leak in the showers. Shouldn't be anymore problems now."

"Ah, very good. You've done great work today. Just leave that towel on the bench there."

So the man did and promptly left the room.

Midoryia had been deep in though through most of the trip. There was a question he just had to ask, as forward, direct, or rude as it could have seemed. Mr Wright built an entire technological empire, and he wasn't even an old man. It was a question sitting on everyones mind, but no one wanted to be the person who asked.

Midoryia decided to pipe up. "Mr Wright?"

"Yes, Midoryia?"

"What's your quirk?"

Perhaps it seemed presumptive; possibly offensive. As though you could never get anywhere if you had a useless quirk, such as fast hair growth, or sneezing on command.

But given Mr Wright's position, it must have been some intelligence based one, maybe some type of heightened cognition, which would explain why it's a surveillance company.

"I don't have one."

Or maybe explain nothing at all.

Quirkless people were becoming rarer and rarer, and position like this were almost unthinkable. But they still appeared. Midoryia remembered clearly the years of his life without his quirk. It filled him with confidence that even without a quirk, people can still rise so high. It made him think that he could have too.

Mr Wright pulled out the prototype handcuffs from before and began talking at length about it's potential. He seemed very proud of this invention.

"Thanks to the research done at the biological and genetic research labs, we were able to isolate the gene responsible for the formation of quirks, and found a way to repress their effects without removing the quirk entirely. There are some inalienable rights that we wouldn't even dream of removing. And this will be nothing but a boon to the work of heroes. As such, the first priority of every hero in any engagement with a villain should be to disarm, subdue, and arrest. That is where the Quirk Suppression Cuffs come in. By subduing the perpetrator, you are ensuring they can commit no further action. Anyone want to try them on? See what being quirkless is like?"

Bakugo answered the question in the calm and polite manner he is very well known for.

"BULLSHIT! What the HELL do you know about the way heroes operate? You're not a hero; you never did any training! You don't even have a quirk! Why should I be listening to you?"

Some students recoiled in shock at the sudden harsh coming from Bakugo. They were used to his outbursts being directed at students, but not at people like Mr Wright.

Midoriya attempted to placate the enraged Bakugo.

"Kacchan, don't you thin-"

"No Midoryia," Mr Wright interrupted, stopping Midoryia from moving toward Bakugo. "It's fine. I'm used to this. Well Bakugo, if you have a problem, this is a sparring room, I am a certified trainer, and this is a perfect opportunity for a learning experience, so why don't you _show _me why it's bullshit."

_Has he just offered Bakugo a sparring match? Is he insane? _Midoryia was all too familiar with Bakugo's fighting style. Even against professionals, it was considered dangerous, let alone someone who was quirkless. It would be catastrophic, possibly even fatal. Bakugo was not the kind of guy who showed restraint, especially after being provoked. Even still, Mr Wright remained calm, taking off his blazer, neatly folding it, and gently placed it on the bench. He didn't notice it before, but without the jacket, Mr Wright looked much more well built than he initially interpreted.

Maybe Bakugo didn't notice either, or perhaps he just didn't care as they both stared each other down; Bakugo's impatience outran his caution as he screamed, "IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THE FIRST MOVE, THEN I WILL!"

An explosive blast erupted from the palm of his hands and he hurtled towards Mr Wright at an incredible pace. Even as he closed the distance, Mr Wright did not flinch. Instead, he grabbed the wet towel that lay on the bench and threw it at the oncoming Bakugo, who then, in minor confusion, grasped it in his outstretched arms.

That minor distraction was enough, as Mr Wright already closed the small distance between them. Bakugo attempted letting off an explosion to dissuade him, but it didn't work. The soaked towel was cutting his hands off from the oxygen necessary for his explosions to occur. Before Bakugo had a chance to react, a hand held his face, a leg wrapped behind his, and he was pushed face down into the padded floor. With as much grace as an Olympic figure skater, Bakugo's hands were brought behind him, and the Quirk Suppression Cuffs clasped onto and locked his wrists together.

"And that's how it's done. Disarm, subdue, arrest." Mr Wright leaned down to quietly say something to the restrained Bakugo. "You been training your quirk for around four years. I've been training everything else for nearly thirty."

He left the incapacitated Bakugo on the floor and threw the key to Kirishima. Nobody was sure if it was shock, a quiet contemplation, or seething in pure hatred, but Bakugo just lay there in a cold, eerie silence.

"I guess that's it for the tour, thanks for visiting, everyone, and I hope you'll consider Iyrin Corp for your future hero career. My assistant will see to your return to the lobby." Again, the emotional whiplash caused by the action he had just taken and the words he had just said, gave the students an uneasy, conflicted feeling. Some were shocked, some were impressed, one was just angry after taking off the cuffs and storming out with the students following, chatting amongst themselves. Midoryia wasn't sure what to feel; he still considered Bakugo his childhood friend, and seeing him embarrassed like that was concerning, but it being done by someone without a quirk was way more cathartic than he would have liked to admit. It reminded him of his first training exercise at UA, where he couldn't control One for All, and facing someone like Baukgo was akin to walking into a nightmare.

He looked at Mr Wright and thought that even though he started off quirkless, just maybe there was a chance he still could have been a hero, as small as that chance could have been.

"Sorry but, was that really necessary?" Midoryia asked Mr Wright who was putting his blazer back on.

"Ordinarily? No. But someone like Bakugo isn't all that ordinary. Wanting to win is all well and good, but pride like that is dangerous for a hero. You're never going to always win."

"And if that towel wasn't there?"

"Then I wouldn't have challenged him, and deprived Bakugo of an important lesson. All it takes is one lucky distraction, hit, or fall to completely change the outcome of a fight. He let his assumptions, emotions, and pride get in the way of his judgment, mostly because he assumed that I'm quirkless so, therefore, I'm powerless. But you. You don't think that do you?

"What do you mean?" Midoryia got the feeling Mr Wright knew far more than he initially thought.

"I mean that we're more similar than you think we are."

"You mean you know?"

"That's right. You used to be quirkless too didn't you?"

He thought he kept it so well hidden. The only people that knew was Bakugo, Recovery Girl, and All Might, so how the hell did he know? _Bakugo would never tell anyone; his pride wouldn__'t allow it, Recovery girl was bound by the Hippocratic Oath; she would lose her job if she told anyone. That just left All Might. They must have spoken to each other before, which is how this field trip came together. He must have told him there. Does All Might really trust him enough with this information? He'd never let it slip out, so he must trust him. And if All Might trusts him, then so do I! _Midoryia's train of though was a long one. Mr Wright observed, amused, but understanding, and let him reach his conclusion.

"I think I'd like to work here," Midoryia finally said.

"Are you sure?" Mr Wright responded.


	6. Chapter 6

"Yes I'm sure," Midoryia determinedly answered an unsure All Might. He sat in a suspended silence, surprised by the answer the young man had given. Then he sat back and gave the boy a long, hard stare. _Young Midoryia_, All Might thought. Well he certainly wasn't young anymore. He had grown up a lot lately. He was taller, his muscles more defined, but he still had that wide eyed, innocent look about him. Was it right for All Might to be so apprehensive about this? They all need to stretch their wings and leave the nest at some point. They can't really grow if they come to depend on you so heavily.

Still, this isn't a decision to take lightly. Midoryia is the inheritor of One for All. All Might naturally felt partially responsible for every step he would take. He wanted him to train under Gran Torino some more, just like he did. But wouldn't that be defeating the point? Izuku Midoryia is not Toshinori Yagi. Deku is not All Might. To be his own hero, he needs his independence.

But no matter how much he knew that, that nagging thought of 'what if…' crept into the back of his mind. What if he would come to blows with the League of Villains? Was he ready? What if All for One escaped? All for One knew something big was about to happen. Would Midoryia be able to deal with that?

Maybe he was thinking too hard about this. No dream ever came true without taking a single risk, he and Midoryia were no exception.

Mr Wight was a fine man, exceptionally smart, and had a large backing. Midoryia would grow into a great hero with someone like Ethan elevating him. And the two were similar. They obsessed over heroes, each in their own way.

"I guess that settles it then. Izuku Midoryia. Hero name: Deku. Iyrin corp agency." All Might rolled the words around in his mouth, seeing how they fit together. The boy had made his power his own, now he had to start being a hero on his own. This was a good first step. "Even so, school is not over yet. We both have a graduation to prepare for."

"Both? You don't mean…? NO WAY! You're going to give the graduation address?"

All Might nodded. It had been a few years since the Kamino Incident. He hadn't stepped foot in the public eye since then. The last time he stood in the public eye was after the defeat of All for One, when he lost his power. Now it was time he returned, not as All Might, but as Toshinori Yagi. Not a symbol, but simply as a man. He had stood in front of cameras and crowds too many times to count, only this time, the thought terrified him.

How would the people react; seeing the great hero All Might, a meer shadow of the man he once was. Fear? Pity? Solemn acceptance? No outcome would necessarily be positive. It would show he was alive, though.

But, no matter how scary it was, it had to be done. Hiding would achieve nothing. The world had to know he was still around, not as protective hand, but as a guiding one. He could take solace in that.

"Do you think the people are ready?" Midoryia asked.

All Might stared at the table, mentally working out his answer.

"I don't know, but it needs to be done sooner, rather than later. If I leave it, things are just going to get worse. It's a necessity if it means that people can move onto acceptance." All Might looked at the staff room clock. "Now I've got a speech to write, and you've got a class to get back to."

Midoryia looked at the clock in confusion. _Have I really been here that long? _Turns out, he had.

"OH CRAP. I'M LATE. TALK TO YOULATERALLMIGHTBYE!" The words trailed off as he panicked his way out the room.

All Might chuckled to himself. "Strange kid," he said to no one in particular, opened his laptop, and began working on the graduation address.

* * *

Midoryia knew it was a big event, but this was ridiculous. He didn't think it was customary for news stations to be around during a graduation, but UA's was the biggest, and there was an announcement that All Might would be giving the address after a long hiatus. Of course it was going to be big. Camera operators and crew fussed around equipment, as reporters and presenters repeated important talking points, since the ceremony hadn't started, and they needed to fill in air time. Midoryia could be seen in the back corner of Channel 6 news, staring absently into the camera, before realizing and moving out of shot.

The audience should have been made up of relatives of the students, but no amount of students would be able to formulate a crowd this big. It looked more like a concert than graduation; people even wore All Might merchandise to boot. The security was top notch as well, heroes of all kinds came to see the address. The only time Midoryia saw anything like this was on I-Island at the I-Expo.

"THE GRADUATION CEREMONY WILL COMMENCE IN FIVE MINUTES," the campus sirens buzzed.

He was relieved, all the waiting around was starting to get to him. Hot day, hot crowd, everything was hot. Now he just had to try and squeeze through the crowd of people, reach the front of the stage, and find his seat. In five minutes. _Oh no. _Because he stood around thinking about how little time he had, it was more like four minutes. _OH NO. _And now the crowd got bigger.

"OH NO!" Midoryia leapt in and squeezed through what part of the crowd he could, receiving a few elbows to the stomach, face, even the groin once or twice.

Midoryia escaped the crowd, popping out the other side, like a prairie dog peeking from it's burrow on a warm, summer morning. From where he was, he could see the stage and the seating area for the graduates. Pretty much all the students were already sat down. Rushing over, he found himself set with another problem.

No seats. No space. No time. The faculty were already heading for the stage. Would he have to sit in the aisles? Would he have to sit in the aisles as the world watched? Would he have to sit in the aisles where All Might could see? What an embarrassment. '_Dumb kid sits on floor during graduation,__' _the headline appeared in his mind, clear as day, posted all over the Internet.

"IZUKU, OVER HERE," a voice called, somewhere amongst the seating. Somewhere in the middle, close to the front, he could see the vague shape of Ochako jumping and waving, much to the amusement or annoyance of the nearby classmates. "I SAVED YOU A SEAT!"

With no time like the present, Midoryia sprinted over and scrambled his way into the row, clambering over and apologizing to the graduates in equal measure, till he was sat next to Ochako.

"You sure like to cut it close don't you?" Ochako said through an amused smile.

"Well, I wanted to look around. I think I'm on the Channel 6 news."

"Wait, what?"

Before he could answer, Principal Nezu stepped onto the stage, and the crowd fell silent.

"Good morning students, parents, faculty, and press. On behalf of everyone at UA Academy, I would like to welcome you all to the graduation ceremony of these prospective, young heroes. I have been told by some that I have a tendency to be 'long-winded', so I will save the pontification for our guest speaker. Now, without further ado, here to give the student's graduation address, Japan's symbol of hope and peace, and my very good friend. All Might!"

He hesitated. All Might stood behind the stage, gripping his speech in his sweaty palm, crumpling the paper. He'd never been this nervous in front of a crowd before, maybe when he first started, but that was a long time ago. What would they think? Sadness? Mockery? Or worse, disappointment? But, no matter what they though, leaving now would look so much worse. _It__'s now or never._ He forced himself onward, and forced a smile.

Maybe it was shock, maybe it was awe, but, just for a moment, the crowd sat in a stunned silence, and All Might's heart jumped into his throat. _I__'ve disappointed them._ Then one person clapped, then another, then several, then hundreds, then thousands. The stadium swelled with rapturous applause, and a very familiar feeling came over him. His fear melted away, his smile stopped being forced, and became genuine. He gave a humble wave, reached the microphone, and looked over his speech. He cleared his throat, and began.

"Good morning, everyone. For the past few years, after the Kamino incident, I have been retired from my hero duties. This was not a decision I took lightly. Now, I'm using my retirement to instruct the future heroes of UA Academy. My power may be gone, but new heroes shall rise, and I shall pass my torch onto them. As for you students, the final exam you just took is only one of many you will take from now on. This is not the end of your hero academia, every day many pose a new and maybe greater challenge than you have ever taken before. You may stumble, you may fail. But don't let this deter you, because a mistake is a learning opportunity, and you can use it to better yourselves.

"From now on, you carry the torch which I and many heroes before me have carried, and you all are the symbols of hope and peace, not just in Japan, but in the entire world. Remember to always save with a smile, show them you will not back down, and you will go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!" The final words he let out with a shout, a mighty shout he had not done in years. And the crowd joined in, responding with a thunderous, roar of applause. Even in this husk of a body, he could still inspire such hope.

The rest of the ceremony continued as expected, more speeches were made, and a band played the school's anthem. Finally, the moment arrived. The official student graduation. Where All Might would hand the students their official Hero License. Once Midoriya's hands held that card, he would achieve his dream, and become a hero.

Several graduates walked up and received their license. Midoryia waited in frustrated anticipation. Bakugo was next up, taking the license with all the grace of one who believed they should have had it a long time ago. Todoroki stepped up and took his with either thoughtful silence, or cold indifference.

"IZUKU MIDORYIA," the announcement called, and Midoryia eagerly shot straight up from his seat, and marched purposefully to the stage. He beamed at All Might, who handed his license to him and whispered, "it's all up to you now." Midoryia held it as though it was made of a thin piece of glass: as though even the tiniest amount of pressure would break it. Old memories flowed through his mind: his doctor telling him he had no quirk, Bakugo saying he will never be a hero, All Might saying that when they first met. Then more memories flooded in: The entrance exam, the attack by The League, the sports festival, the forest training camp, Mirio and Eri, Overhaul, Sir Nighteye, Gentle, the joint training, all of it. And one moment stood out amongst all the others, All Mights words. "You too can be a hero."

He didn't want to cry, not in-front of All Might, but the tears started anyway.

"Young Midoryia?" All Might said.

"Y-yeah, All Might?"

"Other people want to graduate too."

Then he remembered where he was and how long he had been there, felt embarrassed, apologized, and bolted off stage.

* * *

"Bags checked?"

"They've already been taken there."

"Your ID?"

"Never leaving me."

"Costume?"

"Already over there."

"It's nice that they let you stay in the emergency accommodation while they sorted out something more permanent. It's a bit far from your home."

"Yeah, the transport would have been a pain."

"I wonder why they didn't sort it out sooner?"

"It's usually not customary to recruit heroes this soon into a corporations startup. At least, that's what I was told. You should see the rooms though, they great! It's like a really classy hotel!"

"I bet it is. No one wants an unhappy hero. Except this one hero who got stronger the more miserable he was. That's the only time you want an unhappy hero. Ah, we're here."

All Might and Midoryia left the car and gazed up at the spiraling tower of the IYRIN Corp HQ; glass glistening from the sun's reflection amongst the pure blue sky.

"You're your own hero now, Midoryia. Good luck. "

"Thank you, All Might."

"I need to get back to UA. If you need any help or advice, you know where to find me."

They waved each other goodbye, and All Might left Midoryia at the entrance of IYRIN Corp. Midoryia look on at the brilliant building, and looked forward to the future. _My hero career has finally begun._


	7. Chapter 7

There was no gentle way to put it. This place was a shithole.

It was an abandoned factory sat at the edge of Tokyo. Soulstorm wasn't expecting much, but he thought All for One would at least have something tucked away for his little protege. He shouldn't have expected much. Still, even as an infamous band of mercenaries, there were some luxuries he couldn't even think of being without. Hopefully this was just a rendezvous point.

Soon he'd finally meet the young man who was causing such a commotion throughout Japan.

The sound of rusted metal upon rusted metal filled the air and the industrial doors opened.

The Harbingers followed Dabi in, and the door closed behind them. The large space was dimly lit, there were a few storage containers piled up high, and some old, disused, industrial equipment lay scattered around the area.

In the centre of it all sat the young man himself, perched high on a stack on wooden boxes. The leader of the League of Villains: Tomura Shigaraki.

The other members of the League flanked the Harbingers from all angles at a safe distance. They had no intention of repeating the mistakes made last time. The numbers swelled since the Meta Liberation Army joined; if a fight was to break out, neither would escape unharmed.

Shigaraki and Soulstorm stood in a calculating silence, both anticipating the move of the other. Raz took the opportunity to step in and speak.

"It appears thy mantle ill fits you still. The room for growth is obvious."

"Thy?" Responded the red headed girl.

"Sorry. It still slips out sometimes."

"Bit of an odd way to say it," Soulstorm interjected, stepping forward. "But he's right. You still got a long way to go. That's why you asked for us, isn't it?"

Shigaraki heard of them; most in the underworld did; through hushed voices, a mix of awe and fear. He knew their expertise focused on dismantling nations, but that's all he knew. And there was only four of them. Something wasn't right.

Still, even with the Meta Liberation Army, his group was small. Compared to an entire country of heroes, he needed all the help he could get.

"Well, this is different, isn't it? Much different than when I last met 'The Boss.' No more League, but 'The Paranormal Liberation Front.' I'm liking the Libertarian vibe. But I am curious about something," he said, leaning on a steel cargo container and resting his hands in his coat pockets, "you have Detnerat, so you've got resources, and you've got Feel Good Inc, so you have influence. What do you need us for? Clearly it's big, bigger than anything before. You're no petty band of criminals, no team of small time villains. You're more like insurgents. You want to start a war." Their eyes met, two wrinkled and tired, to one covered and scarred; and Shigaraki remained in a calculating silence. "Well, lucky for you, that's our specialty."

Dabi approached and quietly spoke into Shigaraki's ear.

"The one in the hood has some form of rapid regeneration quirk. I couldn't find out the rest."

"Ah. Your usual greeting, was it?"

"I just wanted to see if they were even worth my time."

Clearly they were, or they wouldn't have contacted them in the first place, but so little information exists that a quick grasp on their power would be perfect.

Shigaraki had power, he had bodies, he had resources, but he lacked the knowhow. Being a small band of criminals managing some attacks here or there is one thing, but an outright war is another thing entirely. He didn't want to admit it, but he needed them. He didn't have to show it, though.

"I've heard of you, but not the others."

"Well," Soulstorm started, vaguely gesturing to the rest of his crew, first pointing at the girl with the flowing red hair, "this is Battery," then the man with the beard and suit, "Fenrir," then at the deathly pale one in the large raincoat, "and Raz, and as you've heard, I am Soulstorm."

"And your quirks?"

"All in good time, don't want to front load you with too much information. Besides, we hardly know each other. Who knows what could happen?"

"Then I can't trust you."

"Your boss did." That comment gave Shigaraki pause for thought. "Anyway, we have a lot of work to do. Third-world nations and tin-pot dictators are simple, but a first-world nation with an army of heroes? Another beast entirely. Your war training starts in a month."

"Why a month?"

"The hero turnover period."

"The what?"

"The point where new heroes graduate and replace retiring heroes."

"The older heroes leave," Battery gleefully added, "and we've got some kids who don't know what they're doing to mess with. It's a whole lotta fun!"

"In that time, just wait and train. Then we'll find you. We'll keep our distance, don't want to arouse any suspicion. Remember, One month."

They walked back towards the entrance, rusted metal piercing the quite warehouse space. Shigaraki sat back and pondered. Just what had he got himself into? Either way, it didn't really matter. He'd get what he wanted.

* * *

The Harbingers left the warehouse and continued along the abandoned, overgrown railway beside it. Their mood was high. Things were finally moving, and things were getting interesting.

"You sure you can trust him?" Battery asked.

"For now. We don't have another option. Like I said, this is an entire country of heroes, and there's only four of us."

"Still The Front is comparatively small."

"It's bigger than I expected which is good, plus I don't think Shigaraki wants more than just destroying everything. A simple goal, at least on paper. We can work with this, we've worked with less."

"You really want to follow a guy who just wants to destroy everything? What is it, do you hope that when he disintegrates everything the stuff you don't like will be stuck in the middle?"

Soulstorm scratched lightly at the scar under his eye-patch and thought for a moment.

"Yeah, pretty much. I can see why people would follow him. Tear it up by the roots at start again. Besides, even if he fails, we still can complete at least one job."

"What? For god's sake, don't tell me you double booked a contract again."

"Don't worry. It's not like last time. Besides this ones easy. It doubles the money, we're basically doing the same stuff. We can kill two birds with one stone."

"You sure it's not like Rhodesia? You remember the power plant right?"

"How was I supposed to know he could scream like that? High frequencies break glass, not metal. What was he doing in a power station anyway?"

"The stars were beautiful that night," Raz added.

"I'm hungry," Fenrir also added.

"Fenrir's right," Soulstorm said. "He's hungry and I'm tired of walking. I'm thinking a nice hotel."

"With room service."

"Yes Fenrir, with room service."

And so they found a nice hotel with room service. It was a hotel that rose high into the sky and had an excellent view of the harbor and a solid chunk of the city. Fenrir helped himself to lobster. He ate it in one solid bite; shell included. Battery typed away at a laptop, while Soulstorm perused a city map, marking points he found to be of some form of significance. Raz sat on the balcony watching the spectacular city lights of the vibrant Tokyo nightlife.

A couple of beers down and Battery went off to her room, Fenrir was asleep on the couch, and Soulstorm went to join Raz on the balcony, who was sitting crosslegged on the table, and staring out at the city lights.

"You know, Fenrir fell asleep on the couch. I ain't waking him up. You could take his room for tonight."

Raz smirked in appreciation of the token gesture. "No thank you."

"Do you ever sleep?"

"Yes. On occasion. I once slept straight through the 1960s."

For a moment they both enjoyed the radiant light and ambient noise of the city below.

"You still haven't told them the aim of the second contract, have you?"

"And how the hell do you know?" Soulstorm responded, amused by the deduction, but not very surprised.

"When you have been around people as long as I have, they become easy to figure out."

"Well I doubt Fenrir would care, and I'm not sure how Battery would feel. Would she see it as losing a part of herself, or being relieved of a great burden?"

"I doubt it's as complex as you are making it out as."

"Perhaps. Can you imagine it?"

"I lived it, once. A world relieved of its heavy burden. A world with a future. A world without quirks."


	8. Chapter 8

The lobby was busier than last time. What was once an already pretty busy lobby filled with construction crew, movers, an general salary men in suits, now was a buzzing hive of all sort of people: heroes, police, office workers, civilians, even some government officials could be seen. He even saw Mount Lady chatting with some official looking people about some kind of new sponsorship deal between their agencies, _Whatever deal they__'re making, it'd have to be HUGE, _Midoryia though to himself and was disappointed there was no one he could share his terrible pun with.

With no other idea what to do, he decided asking the receptionist would be the best course of action. She was busy typing away at a computer as he approached.

"Excuse me, I'm here for the hero orientation, but I'm, uh, not sure where to go."

"Do you have your hero license?"

"Erm, yeah I do," he said handing her the license.

She took it and began typing something onto her keyboard, but then she looked at it again and a confused expression formed. "…Deku?"

"Yes, that's right."

"That's brave. Just wait in the lobby. Another hero will be down to give you orientation."

Some robots skittered out from a back room, took his bags, and skittered back off, he hoped, to a service elevator. He gave a polite, but kind of awkward 'thank you' to the receptionist and wandered back to the center of the lobby.

It's never comfortable waiting in the lobby of an unfamiliar building, especially a busy one. No matter what you do, you always look lost, confused, and out of place. Midoryia looked significantly out of place. He caught a glimpse of himself in a window's reflection; a curly haired, green jump suited kid donning a hoodie with rabbit ears on it standing amongst well dressed, important looking business men. The contrast made him feel like a trick-or-treater who wandered into a charity gala.

He almost considered going to the bathroom just to be somewhere else, until he heard the familiar dulcet tones of a voice at the the other side of the fountain. Leaning over, he saw the instantly recognizable red and white mop sat atop the head of Shoto Todoroki. And next to Todoroki sat the cute, bobbed, brown hair of who he assumed was Ochako Uraraka. They chatted in the uncomfortable way that people do when they're trying to take comfort in familiarity in an unfamiliar situation.

With that, Midroyia overflowed with both relief and excitement, and he let out a shout that was considered louder than was necessary for the environment.

"Uraraka! Todoroki!"

The sudden noise startled Ochako and she jumped from the fountain. Todoroki remained sitting, as if he didn't notice anything at all; he was pretty blunt like that. She turned to see Midoryia speedily approaching, and her expression changed from one of shock to also shock, but a nice shock, like when the box you thought was full of spiders turned out to be full of cake. Her expression changed and her excitement rose to match his. Todoroki stood up too, but his level of excitement didn't appear to move at all. Anyone could have been standing in front of him: Midoryia, All Might, Endeavor, a bag of potatoes; there wouldn't have been any difference.

"Didn't expect to see you two. How long have you been here?"

"Not long. Just a few minutes. Todoroki and I met outside and came in together. What about you? I was sure you'd join Gran Torino's agency."

"Guess not. And I was sure you'd join up with Gunhead."

"Guess not either. And that still doesn't explain Todoroki either, hmm?" They both turned to peer quizzically at Todoroki, who was staring off, like he was in another world.

"I, uh, still don't think… it's complicated." They both knew Todoroki troubled history with his father. Endeavor may be the Number 1 hero, but he was a long, long way from being a Number 1 father. Whatever mixed feelings he had were probably warranted.

Before more probing could be done, a figure stomped out from the elevator and barreled its way towards the ex-students. Immediately Midoryia recognized the mustard yellow jumpsuit. The same one worn by the hero testing his equipment during their field trip. King KO was his name and there he stood; not necessarily a tall man, but he didn't let that stop him from standing like one. The three stood to meet the hero eye to eye, or at least Ochako did, with the other two it was more like eye to forehead.

"You the kids that're gettin orientated? What's yer hero names?"

"Uravity!" Ochako answered immediately.

"Not bad. Next!"

"Icy Hot."

"What? We'll have to work on that. Next!"

"Deku!" Midoryia nervously spurted out.

"Wait, what?"

"Deku."

"Seriously?"

"Yes?" Midoryia said in a tone that implied he wasn't sure himself.

"That's brave. Anyway we got a lot to do and have only a full day to do it so let's get going!" He announced, already marching towards the elevator.

"So you're going to be baby sitting us instead of heroing yourself?" It was always strange whenever Todoroki made a blunt comment like that. He was able to tell jokes, he just did it by accident. No one could ever tell if he was being earnest or not.

"Hey! Don't be a smart-ass. I get paid over time for this babysitting. Besides, you're gonna need as much help as you can get with what's planned."

"What's that?"

"Orientation."

* * *

Midoryia was familiar with pain. He remembered the first time he blew his arm and legs out during the UA entrance exam. He remembered the hero/villain exercise against Bakugo. He remembered his battle with Todoroki at the Sports Festival. He especially remembered his encounter with the villain Muscular. He was far more familiar with pain than any high school kid should ever be. But he never expected a type of pain like this. It wasn't physical, nor was it emotional.

It was psychological. It was the type of psychological pain that was completely unintentional, which may have made it even worse, at least you know they're testing you. Sure, they dress it up nice; people are smiling, handing you things, telling you where to go, but it doesn't hide what a true bureaucratic nightmare it really is:

Admin.

Endless forms, endless signatures, endless permits, passes, interviews, conferences, and meet-and-greets with people who he had no idea what they did and still didn't after their chat. As a private contractor, King KO wasn't much help. When asked he simply stared at the forms and gave an unhelpful shrug.

The company Health and Safety presentation was particularly grueling, but at least he got to sit down for it. Towards the end, he almost found himself asleep. Uraraka was actually asleep while Todoroki somehow stayed awake. Whether he was paying attention or not was a different matter entirely, but his eyelids did not close,so that technically meant he was awake.

The security briefing was actually quite interesting, it looked into some of the finer details of the current threats to public safety, including Shigaraki Tomura's League of Villains. They had fallen out of the public eye for a while, so a reminder was always helpful. There was an interesting statistical analysis of the rise of crime since All Mights retirement. Watching the steadily increasing columns filled Midoryia with the anxiousness of an ever increasing weight of responsibility.

After that came the security clearance, which involved an extensive background check. Easy enough for Uraraka and Todoroki given that both spent their entire lives in the country and their parents were pretty well established, especially so in Todoroki's case. Midoryia had a slightly harder time given the current situation of his father, who is currently working overseas to provide for him and his mother. There was surprisingly little information about him, but there was enough so that it wasn't a huge problem. A few questions and signatures later, they walked out having their biometrics scanned and key-cards issued. Now it started to feel official.

Still being escorted by King KO, they were brought into the elevator once again and stopped at another floor higher up the building. The doors slowly split apart and revealed a long corridor, the walls made entirely of mirror. Midoryia looked down the dizzying infinite mirrors at the infinite Midoryias. He moved his arm slowly, watching the trail effect.

The end of the corridor had what looked like a well sealed door and both a key-card and biometric scanner for fingerprint and retina.

"Welp, looks like I gotta leave you here kids."

"Really. Why?" Uraraka asked.

"This is the most restricted part of the building. Bein' the company's permanent heroes, you got clearance. I don't. Private, ya see. Good luck to ya!" King KO said, waving as he headed back towards the elevator.

The sliding doors of the elevator shut and the three heroes were left alone, or as alone as you could be with a billion reflections of yourself. Nowhere left to go but onward.

A swipe of the key-card, a touch to the fingerprint scanner, and a gaze into the retina scanner. The door opened to a room only fit for one, bathed in oppressive red hue. Midoryia was first in line, so he naturally went in first, apprehensively stepping into the closet sized room. The door closed behind him. It made an ominous hissing sound. He wasn't claustrophobic, but found that it wouldn't take too much effort to become so. The walls hummed and whirred as thin, green beams of light etched their way over his body, most likely scanning him; perhaps in search of concealed weapons or active quirks.

A green light above the door pleasantly pinged active and the door in front hissed open.

The doors revealed the company logo —a ringed eye— etched into the wall and two imposing security guards standing at either side of Midoryia, watching like coiled springs, ready to pounce at a moments notice. To the side of them showed other security officials manning a guard post, revealing the mirrored hall to, in fact, be a one-way mirrored hall. Personnel could view anyone entering the hall from either side. He caught a glimpse of the monitor behind the security desk showing the results of the scan. He giggled at the novelty of the Midoryia shaped skeleton.

Uraraka was next out the scanner and the security must have caught her off guard, as she let out a startled yelp. Todoroki followed shortly after. The guards did not surprise him at all.

The guards ushered them into the next room, moving through dark and shadowy corridors and past doors which are probably of some importance to someone, but pointless to the three heroes right now. Walls were lined with electronic displays showing basic information about cyber security awareness and health and safety tidbits. Important looking technicians hurried past speaking of things the heroes had no concept of; sure they were speaking their language, just the combination of words made no sense to them.

The guard led them to a much bigger and far more imposing door requiring another scan of their credentials.

The doors opened and illuminated the heroes in the glow of a digital wonderland.

The room was the size of a warehouse and rows upon rows of cubicles filled it out neatly. Each held a person scanning through surveillance footage, listening intently into bulky headsets. Great monitors spread across the walls, looming over the room and bathing everyone with its knowledge. The three had no idea what it actually said, but it looked important enough to warrant its existence. Across from them, officers with glass walls stacked neatly on top of one another. It looked like important people were having important discussions and doing important things. Midoryia could just make out one of the conferences held there. A dozen or so people from different government bodies sat around a large modern table, writing notes and paying varying levels of attention to a display linking images of various criminals with others. He could just make out the skinny, white haired form of the person at the top of the list. Shigaraki Tomura. The leader of the League of Villains. He shuddered reflexively and rubbed his neck, his encounter with the terrorist at the mall echoing in his mind. He remembered how his hand felt around his throat, how one slip of a finger could have ended his life.

He glanced away from the meeting and saw a man on one of the catwalks, surveying the room. A man so sharply dressed he could have very well been in danger of cutting the railing he was leaning on. His gaze fell on the group, and he gestured them up to the walkway.

It was hard to tell from a distance, but up close the man became familiar. Ethan Wright was basically a different man. Where before he looked like a someone in an underperfoming alternative rock band someone forced into a suit, now he looked crisp, clean shaven, and like he rad a multi-billion dollar company. His shaggy, dirty blond hair now trimmed and neatly waxed, his tired eyes now rested and positively beaming at the young heroes. Still, Midoryia thought could see a tiredness deep in them. A kind of tiredness that sleep just won't fix. Running a corporation must be heavy work, Midoryia thought to himself.

"Ah! If it isn't out new heroes. Welcome!" He greeted them with a radiant smile as he approached and shook their hands. "I trust administration wasn't too rough for you."

"It's wasn't so bad," Midoryia half lied.

"You don't need to lie to me, I know it's a nightmare. But there's a lot of baggage that comes with being a hero and with managing them, so everyone takes a lot of the crap. At least the most boring bit's over."

"I'm sorry there's only three of us," Uraraka said apologetically.

"Are you kidding? I was barely expecting even one of you. It usually takes time for a new business to set up and gain heroes. By the way, sorry for the accommodation problem. Securing apartments on such short notice gets a bit complicated, especially in this city."

"No it's fine really. The rooms are fine," Midoryia said. It was an odd situation for him. He wasn't used to people apologizing to him. It was usually the other way around.

"Where are we anyway?" asked Todoroki.

"Oh, of course! I should have mentioned this sooner!" He swept his arm out, presenting the room to the heroes. "As you know, IYRIN Corp was founded for its surveillance technology. We've been issuing security and surveillance products throughout the world. Now we're here in Japan and working with the government in monitoring criminal activity. Millions of cameras and microphones monitoring every public space. All of that filtered and sent right here. Welcome to The Hub." He lent back against the railing, the widest grin filling his face. "And this means heroes will be the first to know. Oh that remind me, I should show you something else." He skipped back into an office behind him, and emerged a moment later holding a glass visor. "Brand new, hot off the press. Here, try it on," he said, gently shoving the device onto Midoryia's face. It blinked to life, but didn't do much else.

"Oh. Uh… It's a face guard… I guess," Midoryia said, unsurely.

"Cool! Looks like we match now," Uraraka said with way more enthusiasm than he could muster.

"Wait a moment," Ethan said, "it's not on yet. HEEEEEY," he yelled down at one of the many security operators. One looked back at him, many others did too in confusion. "PULL UP THE FOOTAGE OF THAT BREAK IN YESTERDAY!" The operator stared at him for a second, then something clicked in his head, he gave Ethan a thumbs up, the started ticking away at his keyboard.

A green light started blinking in the visor, just in the top left of his vision. From it, expanded an old video feed of the robbery of a convenience store, costumed villains fleeing with an assortment of goods. Then an assortment of information about the criminals opened showing their known history, and it even gave directions on getting to the crime scene as quickly as possible.

"Woah. No way."

"It can even call the police, fire department, or for medical assistance."

"Woah woah wait, I can't see! Theres too much stuff!" It didn't take long for Midoryia to begin panicking and start flailing around.

"Slow down. It follows your iris. Just look right… okay just there. No, wait. There ya go." He took the visor off Midoryia and began handling it like it was a football. "Harder than hell and clears your vision of obstruction when it senses danger. Yup, I think we're onto a real winner with this one. We got all these guys down here helping you out too, so there's nothing you ain't gonna know about and no situation you're not gonna be prepared for."

"Awesome! Can I see it?" Uraraka said. Ethan responded by lightly lobbing it over to her. Even Todoroki was intently observing it.

"This will help save so many lives," Todoroki said.

"That's the plan," Ethan responded. "By the way, I didn't get a chance to see the briefs on you yet, so what names have you all gone with?"

"Uravity!"

"Ha. Clever. A mix of Uraraka and gravity. I like it. How about you Todoroki?"

"Icy-hot."

"Hmm. Okay. I think we can work something out for you. Something that keeps the idea, but is a little more, uh, impactive. How about you Midoryia."

"Uh…D-Deku."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"…Yeah?"

"That's brave."


	9. Chapter 9

Now he felt like he should be here. The cool breeze refreshed him, the sky was bright and clear, gentle sunshine kissed his skin. The whole city just looked splendid. The mechanical braces on his arms and legs were good and tight. Not so tight as to be uncomfortable, but enough so they felt secure and reliable. He felt ready for his first _true_ day of being a hero.

Midoryia may very well be a smart boy, but is rarely an imaginative one. Aside from a few technological upgrades, including the armored support bracers on his arms and legs, his costume remained the same since high school. He still kept the floppy, green ears and weird metal collar that he tried to shape into a smile, but IYRIN upgraded it somewhat. Instead of the full visor he played with in the Hub, he opted for a visor that covered only his eyes.

Ochako now had the full visor, and new gauntlets. A cute, pink pipe went from each gauntlet into a canister on her back, and she wouldn't tell them what it was for, no matter how much Midoryia asked.

Shoto Todoroki went for an outfit similar to the initial design UA gave him, only this time the ice motif for his left side started at the wrist and ankle, and crept up the designated limb. Red accents highlighted his right side and icy blue ones for the left. IYRIN also worked with him to give him a new hero name: firstly, because Icy Hot was dumb; it was normal for his father to stop him learning English in favor of more quirk training, and secondly, Icy Hot was copyrighted; some kind of ointment apparently. So instead of Icy Hot, Frost-Burn walked out with Uravity and Deku, all ready for their first official patrol as heroes.

The three truly felt like force to be reckoned with, no criminal, mafioso, or villain would stand in their way. In fact, Midoryia wanted a villain to stand in their way, just to show how much they shouldn't be in their way. He wanted this as they patrolled around the streets, as they stopped for coffee and snacks, and as they patrolled some more. He still wanted this as they kept patrolling for around three hours.

"Wow. Slow day today," said Uraraka, idly kicking a pebble and float upwards.

"I suppose even criminals have days off," replied Todoroki, possibly joking.

"What if we look from higher ground," said Midoryia, pointing at a close building.

"Oh good idea. I know a shortcut too!" She tapped both of them of the shoulder. Midoryia was quickly overcome with that floaty sensation that comes with Uraraka's quirk. He lightly lifted from the ground and hovered in place, like he was floating in water without being wet. She hooked both of them in her arms, jumped, and they began their gentle ascent to the top of the building. The motionless movement made him queasy. Being so close to Uraraka didn't help.

Todoroki gracefully stepped onto the rooftop, as though he just stepped out of an elevator. Midoryia tripped and landed face first. Uraraka swung forward and landed in an excited little hop.

"Amazing! You've been practicing, haven't you?" Midoryia said, picking himself off the ground.

"Yep. Only get nauseous with big stuff now!" She smiled that cute smile she has whenever someone notices the effort she puts in to her work.

The jungle of concrete, glass, and steel spilled out toward the distant horizon. Cars moved in and out of the busy streets, like how ants do over a long lost piece of discarded food. It was hard to see much from way up there, everything looked so small. Midoryia wasn't fully sure why he wanted to go up there, probably just a break from the tedium of the day.

Uraraka was intently watching Todoroki's right hand.

"Hey, Todoroki?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder what fire looks like in zero G?"

"… I never really considered it."

"Here," she said, pulling out an old napkin from the coffee store. "Light this." A flame appeared on the end of his index finger and he lit the corner of the napkin. She let it go and the napkin just hung in the air as the fire eventually consumed it completely normally. "Oh. Well I was expecting something else."

"You made the napkin zero G, not the air surrounding it. The air pressure still behaves as normal, so the fire's going to look normal as well."

"Huh." It was sometimes easy to forget how smart Todoroki is.

Midoryia pressed a button on the ear-piece connected to his eye-wear.

"Hello. HQ?"

"HQ here, what do you need, Deku?" It was odd, hearing people call him by his hero name, especially from the professional sounding operator.

"You, uh, don't happen to know of any crimes that are happening, do you?"

"As soon as one occurs, you'd be the first to know."

"So, nothing then?"

"Nothing."

"At all?"

"Nope."

"There has to be something."

"Hmm," Midoryia could hear the rigorous tapping of a keyboard. "Well, there is _one_ thing."

"Oh really? Please, anything right now!"

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"It's a unique one."

"We'll do anything, right now"

"Well okay."

Time to finally be a hero.

* * *

Midoryia and Todoroki were staring up at a tree. A little girl stood beside them with a face expressing both concern and confusion. They didn't need to travel far. The small park was only a few blocks away. Both stared up, wondering what or if to do something next.

"I could simply jump up."

"Not smart. The branch looks thin, you'll break it."

"Okay, what idea's you got?"

"Mrow"

"I'll just make some ice steps."

"You'll probably destroy these flowers while you're at it. Plus, how long is it gonna take for it to melt away. It'll just be obstructing the path."

"Fine, then I'll just burn the tree, let it fall, and you catch it."

"Hell no! You're destroying public property!"

"Mrow"

"Well you wanted a solution. I didn't say it would be good."

"Hey, what are you guys arguing about?"

"Just how to save this…" They turned to see Uraraka holding a confused looking cat in her arms.

"Wait. How?"

"I just floated up and got it."

"Ah of course," Todoroki said.

"Well that's not nearly as heroic as it could have been," Midoryia said, pushing his hand into his pockets and idly kicking a stone.

With that, Midoryia finished his first day as a hero. He watched someone save a cat. _Maybe tomorrow, _he hoped.

* * *

They all returned to their accommodation. He wanted to slump into the couch after a hard day of work, but it hadn't been hard, so he felt he deserved no slumping. The temporary rooms they were given were pretty nice, bigger than at the academy at least, if not pretty standard. Honestly, getting his own place immediately after school was a little intimidating. This grace period beforehand was a nice compromise.

Uraraka was invited out with some old friends from UA and Todoroki went to train, so Midoryia was left all alone. He probably could have gone with him, but his heart wasn't in it right now. Maybe later.

He flicked on the TV, just for some background noise. It was a broadcast about the current top ranked heroes. Currently it focused on the number 2 hero, Hawks. He had a great set of wings, and feathers he could control individually.

It seems as though Hawks was keeping a low profile after he criticized he Hero Charts at their new unveiling, or maybe he was deep in investigating the incident at Deika City.

Hero work must be tough. Then again, today proved otherwise.


	10. Chapter 10

The art of subterfuge is a delicate and precarious one. One of it's many skills include nerves of steel, especially when you have to submerge yourself in a pit of vipers. This is how Hawks first felt when he met one of the lead officers of the now re-branded 'Meta Liberation Army.' Under Shigaraki's reign, now the 'Paranormal Liberation Front'.

Re-Destro, son of Destro; the progenitor of the Meta Liberation Army ideals, lent back comfortably in his great leather office chair and steepled his fingers. Where they were, Hawks had no idea. Somewhere deep, somewhere hidden, somewhere where you need a hefty escort and a bag over your head to get there. Anyone can join the Meta Liberation Army, but very few can meet the upper echelon. Was it precaution, or paranoia? There's a line between the two, but it is a very fine one.

To say Re-Destro was a problem is an understatement. The very head of the Detnerat Corporation being in charge and backing a revolutionary army showed just how deeply this army was funded, plus the man known as Skeptic, who is one of the directors for the multimedia organization 'Feel Good Inc.' showed their possible influence. They even had politicians on their side.

Hawks may have been in over his head. Heroes aren't suited to subtlety, their flashy costumes are a testament to that. This is more the work of detectives or spies. But sometimes necessity must override common sense. His outburst at the announcement of the Pro Hero Chart helped him get his foot in the door, now the only problem was staying there.

"If it isn't the second most popular hero in all the land. How goes your efforts?" He leaned forward till his elbows sat atop his desk, and rested his well defined chin on his fists. His impressive nose always gave Hawks the impression of some type of bird, mostly a crafty raven. He looked the type that, if inclined, would peck out your eyes.

"As asked, I've been spreading the ideals of the Liberation Army." Hawks clasped his hands together and gave a slight bow.

"I'm sure. But it just doesn't feel like… enough now, does it?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Don't get me wrong, it's great that you're doing so. You could keep going around and individually telling everyone our ideals, but then we may have a good ten or so thousand more by the time you die of a ripe, old age. No, we need a little more." Hawks felt a horrid, sinking feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. "You've become quite the enigma in society. Your low profile has just made everyone all the more curious about you. Any media station will jump at the chance for an interview. I want you to go live on television and show your support for our efforts. I want you to promote the Paranormal Liberation Front."

"Haven't I shown my dedication to the cause already?"

"You did, certainly. The delivery of Best Jeanist proved your loyalty, now we just have to see if you're _still_ loyal."

"What makes you so sure they'll listen to me?"

"Don't be so humble, your word carries weight. Mention the Front live on television to millions, and they'll _flock_ to us if you excuse the pun."

"That could be risking my position."

"There's always a risk." Re-Destro rose from his chair, clasping his hands behind his back. Behind his desk was a window, where he watched the countless soldiers of his army training hard. "Those wings of yours, what are you without them?"

He tried to answer, but then he thought about it. Those wings had been with him all his life. They were unbelievably fast, they could feel faint vibrations in the air, he could even telekinetically control each feather. From a young age everyone always told him he was going to be a great hero, lo and behold, he became one. Being a hero was all the world he knew. What would he have been if the quirk had been different, if he didn't have one at all.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. What about yours?"

"Well for one, I'd have a much better hairline. Look at those people there. Look at their power, their potential. How much of it has gone to waste? Quirks are part of our very essence, as much of us as each limb is, or our own minds. Should we stop people using their arms because some are better at using them than others? What if, one day, some politician somewhere told you that you cannot use those wings anymore, that they must be clipped. How would you react? My father died for his ideals. Even when he was persecuted for his quirk, when my grandmother was murdered for it, he still chose to seek liberation for everyone. Why should we be held back by the tiny minority of the quirkless? They're barely twenty percent of the population, and it's dropping fast. The world my father envisioned, I will make it a reality." Re-Destro clenched his fist, looking on, eyes radiating both sadness and steely determination. "I don't believe I am an evil man or a villain, but if doing what is necessary to ensure these people have the freedom to be and express themselves, then I will gladly take that mantle."

Hawks was left sitting in that awkward silence when someone has no idea how to respond.

"Ah, I apologize. I have a tendency to ramble when the ideals are brought up."

"So how does Shigaraki fit into all of this? How can you get the people on your side when you take orders from a lunatic?" He only just realized what he said, but stopped himself too late. Insulting the leader in front of his followers was never a good idea. Re-Destro just smiled and gently placed his deceptively firm hand on his shoulder.

"A necessary evil, I'm afraid. He embodies our ideals far more than anyone else."

"And the mercs?"

"Just some outside help. We can't remain simple criminals, we have to become something bigger. I'd love to talk more but," he brought his face close, " you have work to do."

* * *

So Hawks found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, he could dig himself deeper into the Front, inching closer to each member, gathering invaluable information, but his place as a hero would be lost, and all the security which it provides. On the other hand, he could abandon this little double agent persona, returning to his rightful and well earned spot alongside Endeavor.

No, he couldn't. Everything that happened to Best Jeanist would be for nothing. To have all that thrown out the window on a whim would be the greatest insult of all.

The point of no return. Sympathizing with criminals was not favorably looked upon, it could cost him everything. He fondly looked back at his time with Endeavor, remembering their fight with the High End Nomu, and found himself smiling. When was the last time he genuinely smiled? He certainly hadn't been doing it much lately, the facade was getting tougher to maintain. It's not easy being so carefree when there's so many relying on you.

The wind felt great on his wings. He brought them close as he fell into a dive, then pushed them back out and ascended in a graceful soar, pushing through the clouds and meeting the suns gentle embrace. It always felt wrong when he wasn't in the air, felt like a waste not to be. Then his mind started to wander. It wandered back to something he told Endeavor.

_A society where heroes can enjoy a little boredom__… I'll make it happen, I promise._

Then he thought back to his chat with Re-Destro. Maybe he was looking at things wrong. Maybe there was another way to help carry a heroes burden.

He shook the thoughts out of his head and laughed at himself. _Been flying too long. Starting to think dangerous things._


	11. Chapter 11

"Incident reported. Possible bank robbery in progress."

Midoryia stared at the feed flooding into his view, not fully sure what he was looking at. A security live feed appeared in the top left of Midoryia's vision, a map with directions appeared to the right.

"Oh… OH… OH CRAP! We got one!" Midoryia unslouched himself from the chair in the coffee shop and jumped out of it. People turned to watch the commotion emanating from the green rabbit, but before he could care he was already out the door and down the street.

A tap of a button on his visor, and feeds of Todoroki and Uraraka appeared.

"I'm en route to the scene, be there in a minute. Where are you guys?"

"I'll be there in around five minutes," Uraraka responded between breaths.

"I'm at the other end of the city, my estimation is around eight or nine minutes," said Todoroki.

Midoryia thought it would be a good idea to split up and patrol the city. Clearly it wasn't. After how boring the last few days were, he honestly didn't expect a full scale robbery to happen.

He didn't have much time to think about it, but when he came to the police blockade it dawned on him:_ My first crime, and I__'m alone for it. _He ran straight to danger without thinking again. His heart racing, his knees weak, his stomach doing back-flips, was he really ready? Despite the danger, he felt oddly excited. His first crime to solve as an official hero.

Cops stood by taking cover behind their blockade. There were several blocades constructed around possible exits for one, to ensure the criminals couldn't escape; and two, so no nosy civilians or reporters could get in. When Deku approached, they gestured him to them.

"Deku reporting in! What's the uh… uuuuh…" _What the hell is that word again? Crap! Drawing a blank. It__'s right on the tip of my tongue. _"Event?"_ No. _"Thing that's happening?" _That__'s not it. _"Uh… SITUATION! That's it situation."

The cop gave him a blank stare, then heavily exhaled through his nostrils. He got close to Deku's face.

"Listen carefully. Four armed assailants, they have hostages. Three don't have good quirks, but the fourth; the ringleader, has a strong one."

Deku's visor lit up with images of the robbers showing their criminal records, various pieces of their recent activities and any information on their quirks. Three were negligible, one had a quirk that could turn coke into pepsi; irrelevant, another had one that could switch lights on and off from a distance; potential problem if it was night, and the last guy could speak to pigeons; not that interesting to talk to, only ever talking about food and if anyone has any. It was their leader who would present an actual problem. He called himself Tendril. His quirk let him quickly spawn thin metal tendrils from his back. They were malleable, but strong as steel. He could protract and retract up to eight of them at will. Eight steel like ropes that can extend at an unknown speed and reach an unknown length. This would be interesting to deal with, Deku was most effective at close range, and the bank wasn't all that big, so he had that going for him.

He wondered if he should wait for backup, but every minute wasted meant the criminals getting a chance to escape, but he would be outnumbered, but he was probably stronger. What should he do? Either choice had it's own set of drawbacks. What he hell should he do?

_Screw it._

He jumped the barrier and ran off again, no sense of self preservation present. He barely even had a plan. The cop looked on in disbelief, shaking his head slowly.

Approaching the bank, he moved in slowly keeping himself nice and low, just under the bank's windows. He camouflaged himself by hiding behind an outdoor plant, pushing the leaves aside to get a better view. Looking in, he saw three armed assailants keeping watch over the hostages. Their leader was nowhere to be seen, probably in the back stealing cash. They looked pretty amateurish, at least as far as Deku could tell. The three seemed to be arguing amongst themselves while the hostages sat there confused. Now that he thought about it, it made sense why they were arguing. Tendril's quirk gave him the perfect escape, but these three didn't have a way out. He was probably just going to leave them behind. They'd been tricked. He actually felt kinda bad for them.

Realizing what he thought, he snapped out of it. _They still have weapons pointed at civilians and they__'re desperate, not a good time for empathy._

In the middle of their argument, just for an instance, their attention fell from the entrance and on each other. Without hesitation, Deku raced inside, vaulting over an upturned table fashioned into a makeshift barricade.

Each of the bank robbers had time to notice his entrance, but not enough to do anything about it. Before the first could even ready his shotgun, Deku knocked it aside clattering across the room, swept his legs out from under him forcing him into the floor. The second managed to aim his weapon at Deku, but before he could squeeze the trigger he was met with a rogue chair kicked into his direction, knocking him back. The last managed to ready his weapon just in time for Deku to get close enough. Guns may be fast, but One for All was faster, as Deku pushed the gun angling it upwards as the trigger was pulled.

You can't really prepare yourself for how loud a gun is, especially when close to one. Earplugs are highly recommended before firing one.

The explosive bang set the hostages reeling in panic. A woman let out a sharp scream. Deku couldn't really hear it, the ringing in his ears was drowning out everything else. He used his shoulder to barge the criminal in the chest and snatch away his shotgun.

_What__'s a good amount of One for All to use on a normal person? Twenty percent maybe?_

So he did and punched the man straight in the side of his abdomen, sending him flying across the room, then gasping and collapsing on the floor. He thought he felt something crack.

"Oops… uh, sorry," he said to the man reeling in pain.

With a quick glace backward, he found the guy he kicked a chair at coming at him, mid swing, with a broken chair leg. An easy enough counter, all Deku did was weave left, and catch his arm mid swing, then he judo tossed the man onto the body of the other trying to get up after the nice sweep Deku gave him earlier.

The whole exchange took but a few seconds and Deku felt pretty pleased with the efficiency of it. Even as the man clutched his broken ribs and groaned in the background.

Deku motioned for the hostages to leave by the front entrance, leaving the bank empty for him and Tendril.

He stalked his way through the back offices, through the ripped apart security gate and came face to face with the open vault.

Bank notes littered the floor, lock-boxes wildly ripped apart, coins spilled from the boxes. No Tendril in sight. Deku bent down to inspect the coins. A bunch were taken. He wondered why. Hardly worth it considering the paper money scattered about. Why would he even consider taking any coins?

He heard the jingle of coins behind and turned to find a duffel bag flying towards him.

Not a big deal, just grab it and throw it back. This was Deku's plan until it's surprising weight hit him square in the body, knocking him back into the lockers and denting them. The bag ripped open and coins spilled out.

A man slowly descended from the ceiling outside the vault. Four appendages held him clinging to the roof, two more slowly contorted and twisted around him.

"I was worried when the heroes would show up. Now that it's just a kid, I ain't so worried. Thanks for taking care of the other guys for me. That's one less problem I have to deal with, and I need another hostage." His voice gave a light echo effect from the tubes connected to his cloth hood, emerging from the mouth area, working their way around his body and to his lower back. He kind of looked like a scarecrow ready for a mustard gas attack, even had the 'pecked apart by birds' look.

Deku threw the bag aside, coins ricocheting off the walls, and ran full sprint toward Tendril leaping and extending both legs towards him, ready for a drop kick.

He felt a moment of satisfaction and his feet collided with something, then confusion as people aren't ordinarily this solid or crumbly, then panic as he realized he was through the wall and mid way into the next room.

Deku raised himself from the floor in time to see Tendril's limbs raising a cart and throwing it at him. More than enough time for Deku to react, as he caught the cart with his left hand, spun himself around and launched it back. It was an aim as true as one could get, but the desk still missed and broke apart against the far wall as Tendril unnaturally zipped along to his left and the desk and harmlessly passed by his flailing appendages.

Deku didn't have time to feel annoyed at the whiff when he was already through the hole he made, past the torn down security gate and down the corridor. He entered the main reception and found a long, metal limb swinging at him. He threw up his right arm for a block, but it still hurt like hell. A red hot sting, like a metal whip. Tendril brought an onslaught of these whips. All Deku could do was block as much as he could to try and mitigate the damage. The limbs were moving too wildly to catch, even when he did, it was too smooth to get a firm grip on, at least with his gloves on. He leapt towards a nearby chair, grabbed it by the leg and threw it at Tendril, hoping that the third time's the charm. He may have missed, but he at least he saw how.

Tendril always has four or more limbs extended in different directions, grasping at nearby walls. When he needs to move quick, he releases all except one, then quickly retracts that limb, thus pulling him in that direction at high speed.

He landed unsteadily at the other end of the room, leaving enough time for Deku to launch another chair. In a panic, Tendril haphazardly threw out another limb, pulling himself back. Deku was prepared, throwing a desk lamp not where Tendril is, but where he was going to be.

"SHIT!"

_Gotcha_.

The lamp smashed right on top of his head, his limb slacked and he rolled along the floor in a tangled mess.

Deku reached back to get his quirk suppressing handcuffs ready, till Tendrils metal arms reached out and coiled around one of the bank's support columns. The arms tightened round as plaster and concrete cracked and shattered under the increasing pressure. A quick tug backwards ripped the column in two, bringing some of the roof down with it. Deku jumped back, avoiding the ceiling debris, but a cloud of dust caught him right in the face, forcing him to cough it out.

Deku heard the shattering of glass and saw Tendril's figure leap through, his mass of metal tentacles slithering behind him.

He leapt over the rubble and got outside as fast as he could. Tendril was already a fair distance down the street, tentacles sling-shotting him along; too quick to run after, too erratic to effectively aim at.

His first crime, and the villain got away with the cash.

_Damn._

He wondered whether he should stop and let the more experienced heroes deal with it, till he saw a car roll through the air towards Tendril. Uraraka was there at the end of the street using zero-G on cars and sending them towards Tendril. Their speed wasn't great, but it was a fitting distraction, and Deku wasn't about to let Uravity handle this alone.

In a burst of power, Deku leaped towards the direction of the carnage, cracking the tarmac as he jumped. He tapped a button on the side of his visor.

"Uravity! Pincer! Now!"

Deku's voice came to her through he headgear. It took her a moment to understand what he meant, but then she remembered the conversations they'd been having over the last couple of days. Midoryia's mind was always preparing for any eventuality, probably from watching too many superhero shows, but the pincer attack was actually a useful one.

She saw Deku's speedy approach and threw a car towards Tendril in response. The car approached from the front, Deku from the rear. With any other opponent it would have been a perfect attack, yet the car's bonnet missed by a hair's breadth and Deku found himself midway through the windshield. Tendril's appendage was attached to a building above, and was using it to slingshot himself over, laughing like an idiot.

His laugh was quickly cut off when an ice wall sprung up on top of the building. Frost-Burn stood atop the building, ice spilling out from his left foot. Tendril stopped himself quickly, limbs forcing their way into the side of the building spilling glass and brickwork into the street below. He crawled along the side of building like some great metal spider.

Frost-Burn was busy trying to keep up using his ice to skate along. He attempted to use his ice to keep those metal limbs in place, but they were too quick and nimble to hit.

Uravity helped Deku out of the car.

"Can we get him?"

"I don't know. He far so I can't hit him, and he's quick so I don't think Frost-Burn can either. Hmm." Deku paused in thought. "I have an idea."

"Is it good?"

"No it's super dumb, but I have no other plan. Zero-G me."

She did. It was probably better not to question it.

Deku kicked off the car and was hurtling off towards Tendril. He messed up the launch and was eventually midair rolling his way down the street.

It was a very dumb plan, but he didn't have time to think about it. He got Frost-Burn on his headset struggling through his revolutions.

"Frost-Burn! When I tell you, spill your fire down the building!"

"Are you okay Deku?"

"UWAAAH!"

He wondered if he should help Deku, but he probably did have a plan, so he went along with it.

Deku rocketed toward Tendril, who turned to see the spinning young man attempt to ready a punch as best he could.

Complete miss. Tendril pulled himself further up the building, all the while laughing at Deku as he did.

"Now!"

Out of Frost-Burn's right hand erupted a cone of fire exactly where Tendril was heading. He quickly had to stop himself, appendages ripping their way through the buildings walls.

Deku had one shot to make this. He tumbled round, outstretched his arm, steadied it with the other, curled his finger and held it in place with his thumb.

Tendril turned as saw Deku ready himself. He had no idea what he was about to do.

Deku held himself steady and waited as his finger soon aligned with Tendril.

_Bingo._

"Detroit Smash!"

A blast of pure air pressure erupted from his finger, coursing past the windows of the building, shattering them. It met Tendril right in his face, breaking apart his ram-shackled mask; pipe, glass and cloth sent in every direction. His limbs went slack and lost their grip. He fell into the street, onto the roof of a car heavily denting it. His slack limbs fell around him.

* * *

Several police cars, two ambulances, a countless number of reporters and one high security police van arrived at the scene.

Tendril was restrained using the new quirk suppressing restraints. Without the mask, he looked like any ordinary person, aside from the huge black eye and missing teeth. Two of the other criminals were locked into the van. The one with the broken ribs was carried by a stretcher into an ambulance.

Uraraka and Todoroki stood by watching the professional precision of the police managing and wrapping up the crime scene. Reporters stood at the edge only just being held back by the officers at the blockade.

"Wow. I can't believe how quickly that all happened," Uraraka said uneasily. She leaned back on the back of a police car, trying not to think about how queasy she felt.

"He would have got away if it wasn't for Midoryia's plan," said Todoroki. A sudden moment of shock hit Uraraka like Deku's Detroit Smash.

"Oh my god! Where is Izuku?"

"There he is," Todoroki said, pointing down the street. Midoryia was down the street hanging upside down by foot from the wires of a broken lamppost. The ran to just below where he was hanging, gently swaying in the breeze.

"Izuku are you okay?"

"I think I'm gonna puke."

The press quickly took notice and started snapping pictures and recording footage of the goofy young hero hanging from the lamppost. Uraraka floated up, trying her best to untangle him.

Not much left for Midoryia to do, so he just smiled and gave the press a double thumbs up (down).


	12. Chapter 12

"Move left! More! No, not that way!"

"Having trouble?" The ghost like presence of Raz loomed towards Soulstorm.

"I should have started a month earlier," he said rubbing at this throbbing temples. "There's a lot of 'em, sure, but soldiers they are not. They've practiced with their quirks, but they don't know shit about tactics, strategy, planning. I could go on."

"They look like a mixed bag."

"Ha. That's a generous way of putting it."

Raz looked down at the shambolic crowd before them. A vast number of people from all walks of life grouped together under one cause. In Raz's mind, the whole thing was oddly inspiring. Re-Destro and his lot certainly knew how to draw in a crowd.

"How many of them are actually criminals?"

"Not many. Some are, of course. There's some ex-Yakuza who can't integrate into society; same with the common street thugs, some messed up and ran off after freak quirk incidents, and a bunch are just sick of the system; hoping Re-Destro gives 'em a better one. A lot of 'em are surprisingly young."

"As it's always been. The more humans push for something, the more others push back. Till it reaches breaking point."

A great shadow eclipsed the the hall. The tyrannic march of the walking calamity resonated throughout the PLF complex. His great stone like muscles twisted under thick leathery skin.

"And what is this?" Asked Raz.

"That is All For One's secret weapon. Gigantomachia."

"I've noticed the people here enjoy their Greek Mythology."

"Hmm… wait, you're telling me you haven't heard of this guy?"

"I tend to avoid All For One and his ilk. Does this shock you?"

"No, no. I'm just surprised there's something in this world you haven't heard of."

A sly smile crept along Raz's pale face. He turned to regard the colossal figure of gigantomachia.

"That creature definitely has more than one quirk. Are humans not supposed to turn into Nomus if that happens?"

"Guess not. Looks like the Good Doctor has secrets he's not willing to share. Perhaps we… What? No! Left! That way! Don't you know right and left! Do I have come down there and etch it into you hands!" Soulstorms attention shifted to the group of PLF members. Most moved in formation left. Some wandered right. Some didn't move at all.

"Absolutely no formal training," Soulstorm said rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Maybe we could just make them all move them all from one side of the city to another and hope our target is somewhere in the middle."

"Ah, the Soviet approach. Anyway, where are the other two?"

"Battery's busy arming the troops and Fenrir's probably chasing a bird or raccoon or something. I really should get a leash for him; stop him running into traffic again."

"I did not think Battery would be so willing."

"She kinda likes the MLA. If she wasn't with us, I guess she'd be here."

As the two continued their chat, the mighty form of Gigantomachia approached, towering over the two Harbingers, head splitting apart the scaffolding above as if they were merely leaves on a low hanging tree.

"THE LORD DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE."

* * *

The vast room made Soulstorm feel small; he guessed that was the point. A large expanse with a huge circular table in the middle of a room that was so big it may as well have been a black void. Probably some kind of aircraft hanger in the past.

Soulstorm sat alone at one half of the table while Shigaraki and his lieutenants sat at the other. Raz lingered behind Soulstorm, deep in room's shadows, a whisper of a smile affixed his face. It was hard to tell if he was actually pleased or if that was the natural way his face fell.

Shigaraki sat opposite Soulstorm, his lieutenants filtered from him and around their half of the conference table. There sat Dabi; arms folded and leaning back, Toga; idly fondling a knife and digging it into the table, Twice; scratching his head and wondering what was going on, Spinner; trying his best to contribute, Mister Compress; hard to tell what he was doing behind that mask of his. To Soulstorm, the six were clearly amateurs at this. It was the other four he was concerned with. Geten, Trumpet, Skeptic, and Re-Destro; who was currently leaning forward, steepling his hands, and smiling pleasantly. They were the real brains here. They knew what they were doing, at least more so than the others.

Soulstorm looked out at the plans before him, rubbed his forehead, and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Logistically, it's a waste. Strategically, it's nonsensical. Practically, well it just looks stupid."

Shigaraki placed one hand on the table, the top layer slowly disintegrating around it.

"It must be done. We're paying you to do this. So do it."

"You're paying me to win a war. This plan only serves the opposite. I'm not risking myself or my team in a battle that just serves us a net loss." The part of the table beneath Shigaraki's hand now became ash. Soulstorm looked at Re-Destro who still smiled pleasantly, and raised his eyebrows. Soulstorm responded by rolling his eye. "Fine. We can still do the plan, but _only_ when it's convenient. Otherwise, your grudge is going to have to wait."

With that, the meeting was adjourned and Shigaraki left like a child who got the wrong Christmas present.

Soulstorm left from the opposite side, Raz loomed along behind him.

"That young man," Raz said, voice like a wraith drifting through a mausoleum. "He doesn't strike me as the patient type."

"He's waited years, a few more weeks can't hurt. They've been building strength and poking at the heroes with little, uncoordinated attacks. From what I gather, they're eager to begin, but weary. Boring, but smart, really."

"What joy. Only waiting a few weeks."

"Is that sarcasm?"

"Absolutely not."

"I still can't tell"

"I once waited years for a plague to end. Locked in a single room. A few weeks are meaningless."

Soulstorm walked down the corridor and Raz followed, but not exactly walking. He did place one foot in-front of the other to move in a forward direction, but there was no bobbing, there was only a whisper of a footstep, and his arms didn't really move much. If you couldn't see his legs, you would have assumed he would have been gliding.

Round the corner and Soulstorm found himself face to face with what looked like the happiest man on Earth.

"There's our new assets! Wonderful. I trust everything is to your liking." Re-Destro grabbed Soulstorm by the hand a shook it in that two-handed enclosed way most politicians use.

"It's about what I expected. Probably more actually, considering this isn't some African tin-pot dictatorship."

"Goodness no. Hard to hide from the establishment's prying eyes. And they'll continue until everyone under them is bound and shackled and forced to submit, and they'll send their colorful, spandex clad agents of oppression to do it."

"That's quite a speech. Rather like those neo-communists I met a while back."

"Ah, we're nothing like that. I myself own a business, so it's not about redistributing wealth, it's about redistributing power. Redistributing it to only those who deserve it. What right does the government have to control who we are?"

"As far as I'm aware, it's voters isn't it? There's still democracy right?" Soulstorm turned to Raz to try and get an impartial answer. Instead he got a vague shrug.

"Now you and I both know voters never really get what they voted for, don't we?" Inferred Re-Destro.

"He's got you there," added Raz.

"Okay that enough of the political talk for now, I'd rather talk about something a little less morally dubious, like killing people for money."

"You still have that odd sense of humor I see," said Re-Destro.

"He does," added Raz. "The problem is, he's the only one who gets it."

"All this aside" said Soulstorm, trying to get the topic off of him, "I have to know. Why Shigaraki? Is it a strength thing? Or do you see something in him that we don't? If I speak plainly, all I see is some overgrown kid playing at being a super-villain."

Not even once did Re-Destro break his cheery demeanor. It's the kind of demeanor someone has when nothing has ever gone wrong in their life, or everything has and something broke along the way.

"Shigaraki is far more important than you can possibly imagine. He will bring the MLA everything I have wanted."

"Vague, but alright then."

"Well, lost of work to be done, and not much time. I trust the troops to be fighting fit when the time comes. Farewell." Re-Destro turned to leave.

"Wait. Just a moment ago you said 'the MLA'. I thought it was now the PLF, right?"

"Ah of course… how clumsy of me."


End file.
